CBDC developments fuel debate

Most central banks are working on developing some form of sovereign digital currency. But are they paying attention to the right things?

Political opposition from the likes of Donald Trump have not stemmed the flow of global projects aimed at developing CBDCs.

130 countries are exploring a CBDC, 19 of the G20 countries are now in advanced stages, and 11 countries have fully launched a digital currency.

There are those who question whether we need a fiat digital currency at all and whether projects address more pressing monetary concerns.

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Is This A Golden Age of Fraud?

How "passive income" money-making scams seem to have taken over the world, and the economic implications of such scams.

Why Payment Apps Are Targeting More Teens Now

Teens are getting a head start in understanding personal finance through apps designed to help them manage money, with parental supervision. 

Host J.R. Whalen is joined by WSJ personal-finance reporter Oyin Adedoyin as well as a mother of twin 15-year olds who are active on several apps.

Will The Government Track Every Dime You Spend?

Under an Executive Order with the innocuous number 14067 and its title, "Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets", any transfer of funds to family, friends, charities, or clients using digital currency would be able to be tracked by the nation's central bank that issued this virtual money. 

Big Brother will be in your wallet every hour or every day. You will not be able to buy a stick of gum without a Federal Reserve computer knowing where, when, and to whom you just put down a buck.

Read the full article on the Gatestone Institute website HERE. 

Why a strong dollar isn't as good as you think

The U.S. dollar is the world’s dominant currency and plays a key role in global trade. While that may seem like good news to Americans, it’s bad news for much of the world. 

“So here’s the paradox. The rest of the world despises how dominant the dollar is, yet they go to the U.S. dollar, because there really isn’t much of an alternative,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at the Brookings Institution and professor at Cornell University. 

Despite constant predictions of the dollar’s demise, nearly 60% of the world’s central banks’ foreign exchange reserves – the money the hold to cover unexpected financial emergencies – are invested in dollar-denominated assets. 

The share of the U.S. dollar as a payment currency worldwide is more than 40%, while it makes up more than 60% of international debt and 50% of loans globally. 

Besides being the go-to currency for international financial transactions, commodities such as oil are also bought and sold in U.S. dollars. 

The dollar’s dominance in transactions extends to the U.S. banking system too, which is, in turn, influenced by America’s fiscal and monetary policies. 

“This is ultimately going to entrench the dollar’s dominance even further,” Prasad said. “That is certainly a serious problem for low-income countries that have high levels of foreign debt, especially dollar-denominated debt.” 

Watch the video above to learn about how a strong dollar contributed to economic and political crises in emerging markets such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ghana and Egypt.